tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096776708897685863.post4007231839184087967..comments2024-02-23T04:39:49.329-05:00Comments on Conversations in Klal: Money and KlalProfKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17954446826821665314noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096776708897685863.post-86129935032254481022010-07-12T23:57:56.268-04:002010-07-12T23:57:56.268-04:00I was just at a shiva house, unfortunately, and it...I was just at a shiva house, unfortunately, and it occured to me that at the end of the day, unless you're a communal leader in the classic sense(there are very few of these), platitudes about knowing the entire Torah and Shas, or even giving advice to the little people, mean very little compared to living a life of chesed, of true kindness.<br /><br />Learning Torah (or pretending to) in seclusion, is essentially a selfish act unless it's applied to everyday life. I'd rather have a few less yeshivas manufacturing roshei yeshiva wannabes, and a few more institutions helping people in actual need. More awareness of our history through emphasis on Navi, more sensitivity toward self-perfection and public service, and less training to be a professional dayan to aribitrate ox gorings, split proverbial hairs, and resolve sundry disputes.Arinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096776708897685863.post-39150313979941097242010-07-12T14:35:48.583-04:002010-07-12T14:35:48.583-04:00A friend working as a consultant some years back w...A friend working as a consultant some years back was advising a Jewish Charity umbrella group in Boston. They were trying to raise money for Boston area charitable works, some Jewish, some cultural and arts related.<br /><br />They brought in the consulting group because they had a problem:<br /><br />1. Many of their wealthy potential donors gave primarily to their downstream organization, but not through the united Jewish effort<br /><br />2. They wanted to figure out how to direct those sums through their appeal, to strengthen the efforts of the Jewish community to be participants in the community<br /><br />Obviously, this was a non Frum organization, they were supporting helping the poor, supporting the arts, etc., not wedding dresses, and they were dealing in real money.<br /><br />Their MO was to follow what the Catholics and Christians in the area were doing, whose people were accustomed to giving through their religious groups and helping out, which wasn't the case amongst the Jews.<br /><br />Beyond the silliness, if someone is giving $1000 to the Boston Symphony, who really cares if it gets laundered through a Jewish appeal, they were trying to figure out how to make themselves more relevant.<br /><br />However, they were a pass-through entity, that other than administrative costs, didn't seem to add much.<br /><br />However, just like we are all proud that Israel is one of the first countries on the scene when a disaster hits, it would be nice if everyone saw that when disasters hit in places like Haiti, Jews are at the forefront of helping.<br /><br />If the Orthodox leadership EVER gets its wish, and the other Jewish groups disappear, then just wait to see how Jews get treated in this country. At least right now, anti-Semitism aside, most educated people have a positive impression of Jewish people, if they were exposed with the VIN crowd, I think that would change in a heart beat.<br /><br />That crowd looks like a caricature from the medieval anti-Semetic diatribe, it's as though they decided on how to be Jews from the anti-Semites.Miami Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02977503720972852329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096776708897685863.post-88514907285592839642010-07-12T12:21:59.372-04:002010-07-12T12:21:59.372-04:00Excellent points JS. I also think that the names ...Excellent points JS. I also think that the names given to some tzedakah organizations elevates them to something its hard to say no to. For example, "Kallah Gamach" sounds a lot better than "fancy wedding dress group."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096776708897685863.post-26552610829096199732010-07-12T12:15:38.241-04:002010-07-12T12:15:38.241-04:00Very few yeshivas to the best of my knowledge have...Very few yeshivas to the best of my knowledge have actual chesed requirements.<br /><br />The ones that have it as a requirement usually call it a "mitzvah points" or "chesed hours" program. You get "points" or "hours" by helping your parents (i.e., doing chores) or helping at the shul (i.e., doing chores).<br /><br />Some schools have it as an extracurricular activity which is completely optional such as a "chesed club." The club usually goes to the local hospital or Jewish nursing home.<br /><br />This is such a narrow-minded approach to chesed. It's no wonder we think putting together a lavish wedding is true chesed or making sure a new infant has nice toys or young children don't have to, God forbid, wear clothing from Walmart is true chesed.<br /><br />I remember when the disasters in Haiti and Indonesia occurred. You couldn't watch any channel on TV for more than 5 minutes without seeing a call for aid and money. The entire country mobilized to help in any way they can. And yet, how many shuls even mentioned the disasters from the pulpit and asked people to help? In one shul I'm familiar with they didn't announce it because Jews weren't affected - the line was if you wanted to help out, give to Jewish organizations in the areas affected.<br /><br />I guess this is the legacy of Avraham.JSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096776708897685863.post-62615930928291044782010-07-12T11:56:28.275-04:002010-07-12T11:56:28.275-04:00The local paper has a section on Sunday called Com...The local paper has a section on Sunday called Community, and lists what is going on where. It lists many projects led by students (feel good interest stories) as part of their community service.<br /><br />All the local non-Jewish private schools brag about the tons of work done by students. One article in there was a girl that volunteered at a soup kitchen, and asked what they needed, what they really needed was a second stove to serve the increased demand.<br /><br />She said she was going to get them another stove, and the administrator said encouraging words but didn't think much of it. She went around, raising small amounts of money, until she got another stove to feed poor people, very impressive little project.<br /><br />We read in the paper, occaisionally, about the local non-Orthodox Jewish schools, and they children there are raising money for Jewish related charities, but ones for the entire Jewish world. They are always supporting some cause in Israel, a Holocaust museum, etc.<br /><br />When I hear about a fund raiser from the Orthodox schools, it is ALWAYS adult led, and the benefit is almost ALWAYS for the school itself. Occasionally something else is done in the community, generally to raise money for the Shul.<br /><br />But yes, plenty of fund raising to make the Shul catering to doctors and lawyers more luxurious, or the school for their children more luxurious, but helping the ACTUAL poor is nowhere on the radar screen.<br /><br />Note, helping someone in the top 10% of income have more luxuries for their child, or helping someone in the top 25% have a wedding like they are in the top 5%, is hardly charitable giving, but is what is being taught to our children.<br /><br />I won't pretend that I did a lot of real community service, it wasn't my thing, but I certainly had friends VERY into it. The limited amounts I did to fulfill my community service requirements was definitely an eye opener into realize just HOW privileged I was.<br /><br />I sometimes wonder if the fear of children going OTD is self fulfilling. If you only see the "fun" from the secular world, you wonder why anyone would stay Frum. If you saw the families devastated by poverty, drug use, etc., you'd have a MUCH higher opinion of our insular world. But if your first exposure to "secular culture" is keg parties at Rutgers, I can see why that would seem like more of a draw.Miami Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02977503720972852329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096776708897685863.post-66135382957979062322010-07-12T11:42:31.945-04:002010-07-12T11:42:31.945-04:00Another thing that bothers me about our communal p...Another thing that bothers me about our communal philosophy about giving charity - it is deemed better and more important for someone to give money so someone can put together a lavish wedding they couldn't normally afford (as opposed to the simple rabbi and two witnesses they could afford) than it is to give to cancer research or provide life-saving money to aid organizations when there is a tragic earthquake or tsunami.<br /><br />It makes me so sick.JSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096776708897685863.post-1937407931287713372010-07-12T11:39:36.983-04:002010-07-12T11:39:36.983-04:00I see that the Anonymouses already said some of th...I see that the Anonymouses already said some of the points I was going to make. The main reason there are so many organizations is because it's a darn good way of making money, getting kavod, and looking like an altruistic person. The proliferation of tzedaka organizations is really no different than the proliferation of yeshivas in Israel that the American families send their post-high school graduates to. It used to be that hardly anyone sent to Israel yeshivas before college and thus there were a handful of yeshivas. Somewhere, someone thought this was a travesty and got all the high schools in America to push this on the student bodies. Overnight, seemingly, every rabbi had his own yeshiva or seminary in Israel. The best part is you can collect tzedaka for the yeshiva while collecting tuition. No different than the myriad of yeshivas in Brooklyn - every rabbi with a hope and a dream has his own yeshiva or kollel and they all go collecting.<br /><br />Also, many organizations, even reputable charities and communal organizations play games with compensation. They pay only pay an employee $30k in salary, but they give the person a HUGE expense account for flying to Israel, taking people out to dinners, etc. The yeshivas all do this, for example. A friend who works for a Jewish organization told me her boss has a sizable expense account that is just used for flying to Israel to visit former students and take them out to fancy dinners. It's probably labeled as "fund raising."<br /><br />There are so many organizations because there's no communal pressure to not have so many. There's always money out there to be tapped - either from the community or from the government in grants or tax breaks.<br /><br />Finally, so many services are already provided by the government or other secular organizations - for some reason fewer and fewer are deemed acceptable for klal. You mention counseling services, but there are many others. Hatzalah is redundant in many communities, for example. We duplicate secular educational services in our yeshivas. We charge $40k+ for special ed yeshiva when the public schools make so many services available for free. The list goes on.JSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096776708897685863.post-82146743648436617752010-07-12T09:42:55.925-04:002010-07-12T09:42:55.925-04:00What about cutting back on services that duplicate...What about cutting back on services that duplicate what the government and secular non-profits provide. For example, there are already perfectly fine ambulance/EMT services in many areas served by a Hatzolah. What about taking advantage of public schools for the younger grades?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096776708897685863.post-74776919462786455972010-07-12T08:30:02.035-04:002010-07-12T08:30:02.035-04:00With no central authority like the RC Church, I do...With no central authority like the RC Church, I don't see a good way to curtail this problem. I think we can all take a lesson from Warren Buffet who is going to use the foundation set up by Bill and Melinda Gates to give away his billions, rather than set up his own separate foundation and infrastructure.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096776708897685863.post-84601265576748115902010-07-12T06:39:23.505-04:002010-07-12T06:39:23.505-04:00Sure there are always going to be people who have ...Sure there are always going to be people who have less and people who have more but you left out one important fact. Even though the frum population keeps growing, so there should be enough money growing also, the part of the population that is planning on being supported by tzedaka is growing faster then the other parts. Yes, I mean planning on taking tzedaka not an accident of circumstances. We're running out of money because takers are more in number and those earning money who can give are getting to be less.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com